A couple of years ago we were invited to dinner at the home of friends in New Orleans. Del had been a chef at one time so I was eager to taste his lasagna. Amongst the other guests was a vegetarian so he also made a butternut squash risotto, using homemade vegetable broth rather than the usual chicken broth. The lasagna was fantastic but it was the risotto that blew me away. I intended to get his recipe but sadly, he passed away not long ago.
I don’t know how close it is to Del’s recipe but I did find one online and gave it a try recently. It was delicious and something I’ll certainly make again.
Butternut Squash Risotto
adapted from: allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
- approx. 2 cups cooked butternut squash (my cooking method below)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion (or half a regular one), minced
- 1 cup Arborio rice (I used organic)
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 5 cups hot stock (chicken, vegetable or made with Not-Chick’n cubes)
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds and stringy stuff, place peel side down on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until tender. Let cool enough to handle and scoop out cooked squash into bowl and mash well with fork.
2. Melt butter in sauce pan over medium high heat, add onion, cook and stir a couple of minutes until the onion starts to soften. Add rice and continue cooking and stirring until rice is well coated with butter and onion is starting to brown – about 5 more minutes.
3. Add wine and continue to cook, stirring constantly until it evaporates. Stir in half of the squash and a couple of ladle’s worth of hot broth (keep broth simmering in a separate sauce pan). Cook and stir continuously until the liquid has been absorbed by the rice. Add the rest of the squash and another ladle full of broth. Continue to cook and stir continuously, adding more broth a little at a time as it evaporates. You may not need the full 5 cups of broth but just keep adding and stirring until rice is creamy. This will take awhile – maybe 20 minutes or a little more – but don’t leave it unattended. Put on some nice music and pour yourself a glass of wine before you start. 😉
4. Finish by stirring in the parmesan cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. I didn’t have quite enough parmesan when I made it the other day so I also added a little grated white cheddar. I think Manchego cheese would also be good.
I was eating alone the night I made this so I just served it with a tossed green salad and a glass of white wine. It was perfect for a simple, fairly light dinner. I then ate leftovers heated up for a couple of lunches. It’s easy to keep most of these ingredients on hand at all times and the squash keeps in the fridge for quite awhile so it’s a good standby winter recipe.
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